I'd drill small holes into both pieces for the JB Weld to grab. JB Weld is so strong that I could literally bust castings trying to undo the stuff. It's much under appreciated by those who have never used it or better yet used it wrongly. :smirk:Mike

Cast aluminium cannot be welded like regular aluminium, cast has a slightly higher carbon content and isn't annealed or extruded so it doesn't have anywhere near the same strength.JB Weld is useful but I would hesitate using it somewhere where it would cause damage if it broke again.

Based on signature of OP, it looks like his scope is a cheap 70mm F10, so even if the mount fails and the whole rig goes down and breaks, probably no big deal. How about this:1. drill and tap couple of ~M6 screws. Looking at the picture, I think it should work2. glue with JB Weld3. put in the screws

I think this should provide very good combination - screws to hold things together and glue to fill all the gaps

Is this the dovetail shoe? If so, you can buy a replacement rather inexpensively. The only issue might be finding one with the same sized hole in the middle, though it's relatively easy to drill a larger hole if needed. Anthony at ADM can probably come up with a custom made part, or you could start with something like this:

I sent an email to liquidnailsI need a glue to repair two cast aluminum pieces. Will need to hold 10lbs.Here was the answerI would recommend one of our polyurethane adhesives (in addition to permanent mechanical fasteners) listed below along with where-to-buy information.

LIQUID NAILS FOR MARBLE & GRANITE (LN933) is a polyurethane adhesive. It is sold at Home Depot and Lowe's. It is Home Depot stock #562-222 and Lowe's stock #267707.

LIQUID NAILS POLYURETHANE (LN950) is available at the following retailers:ACE Hardware: LN950 is stock#1260454Do-It Best Hardware: LN950 is stock#265929True Value Hardware: LN950 is stock #603136

Looks like a standard Vixen dovetail - 1.7 inches wide - so, yes, looks like it would fit the OPT shoe. You'll have to work out if the OPT shoe will fit on top of your mount. You might call or email OPT to find out the hole dimensions, etc. Something like this would be much preferred over gluing up an already broken part that was obviously weak to begin with. Good luck with it.

I need a glue to repair two cast aluminum pieces. Will need to hold 10lbs.

The 10 pound weight of the scope is not what the glue has to hold. Being part of a dovetail seat, the clamping screw puts an enormous amount of pressure on the parts - FAR greater than 10 pounds.

My personal opinion is that no glue, including JB weld which I've used before, will hold up to the stresses involved in this particular part. Drilling and pinning (or screwing) *may* help, but there's issues there too. Drilling removes material and makes the overall part weaker than before.

You might get away with drilling, pinning and glueing with something like JB Weld. But any way you look at it, that's a high stress point and the chances of success are fairly low. If there's any way you can replace the dovetail seat, that would be the way to go.

If you can get a flat-bottomed dovetail seat, you might be able to saw off the other ear of the broken dovetail seat, file the base flat, drill some holes through it, and bolt the new dovetail seat onto the base. That would allow you to mate the dovetail to your mount using the circular base part of the existing (broken) dovetail seat.

It's probably going to be less expensive to replace this part than any other sort of futzing around you might be thinking of doing. If you can't obtain a replacement part, you can have a local machine shop re-create it. Perhaps this time out of steel or at least a better grade of Aluminum. You're looking at maybe a $200 bill here if you have to have it machined.

There's a variety of options here, one of which might fit your mount exactly. Just based on looks, the $99 VSAD-HEQ5 version has a circular base that might work on your mount.

I'd give Anthony at ADM a call. He's very helpful and if you talk to him I'm sure he can provide something that will work with your mount. Given the right dimensions, Anthony can actually make you up a custom adapter for the saddle - not sure what he'd charge though. Worst case, get the bare dovetail saddle for $69, and mount it to your circular base as mentioned above.

Added advantage - ADM parts are MUCH higher quality than most original parts!

I have both an ADM shoe and one of the OPT shoes. The issue is going to be the retro fit to your mount. Anthony at ADM is capable of custom making whatever you need - he made me one that fits my EQ2.The OPT one I bought has a 1/4-20 center hole, but has other holes in the arrangement. I can't tell how large the center hole is on your shoe, but it looks larger than that. Thus, you'd have to drill a hole to match. I bought it to mount a finder scope.

I can send more info on the OPT shoe if needed (and BTW, it's a lot cheaper), though OPT should be able to provide the information for you. Email ADM directly for info on what Anthony can do for you.